The feeling of being trapped. When in lockdown, students are confined to a small space like a classroom or a corner of the hallway. They can't run away or seek a safer place easily. In one story, students in a basement classroom during lockdown felt extremely claustrophobic and helpless.
The uncertainty is the most terrifying part. You don't know if there's a real threat or not. For example, in a lockdown because of an unconfirmed intruder report, students just have to wait and wonder if someone dangerous is actually in the school.
One scary lockdown story was when a family heard strange noises at night. They thought it was just the wind at first, but then they saw shadows moving outside their windows. They were really frightened and didn't know what to do. Another was about a person who got stuck in an elevator during lockdown. It took hours for help to arrive as there were so few people around.
A group of friends were locked down in a big house. They started to play with a Ouija board out of boredom. Soon, they felt a cold presence in the room. Things started to move on their own. A picture frame fell off the wall and shattered. They were so scared that they stopped using the Ouija board immediately, but the strange occurrences continued for a few days until they all decided to sleep in the same room together for safety.
The sudden appearance of the panther is often terrifying. For example, when it jumps out of nowhere while someone is walking peacefully in the forest. There's no warning, and the victim has little time to react.
The sudden appearance of anacondas is often the most terrifying part. Just like in the story of the fisherman, when the anaconda emerged from the water unexpectedly. It gives no warning and can be right in front of you in an instant.
The feeling of being trapped. Once you've let the hitchhiker into your car, it's not that easy to get them out, especially if they don't want to leave. And if they turn out to be dangerous, you're in a very vulnerable position in a small, enclosed space like a car.
The most terrifying part is often the power of the acid to quickly and destructively dissolve things. Just the thought of a substance that can eat through metal or flesh in a matter of seconds is really scary.
In many scary rescue stories, the time pressure is terrifying. For example, in a rescue from a sinking car. The water is rising fast, and the rescuers have only a short time to break the window and get the people out. Every second counts, and the fear of not making it in time is huge.
The fact that skeletons are often associated with death and the afterlife makes them terrifying. In many stories, they carry a sense of doom. They might be the remains of someone who died horribly, and their appearance can be a sign of something bad about to happen. For instance, if a skeleton shows up in a person's dream in these stories, it usually means that death is near. Also, the way they move in some stories, like their jerky, rattling movements, is really spooky.
The feeling of vulnerability. When an intruder is in your home, your safe space is violated. In many stories, the victims are often alone or outnumbered, like a single mother with young children facing an intruder. It's terrifying because they might not be able to protect themselves fully.
I think the unknown is the most terrifying part in these stories. When something strange happens like unexplained noises or apparitions (even if it's just a false alarm), it really gets to people. There was a story where a strange knocking sound came from the cargo hold and no one knew what it was. The passengers were all very frightened as the crew tried to figure out the source.